Possessions Have Power
by PsOhKiEpMpOeNr9
Summary: 'Events from the past affect the present and corrupt the future'. What seemed like a harmless prank with a pentagram and Odd scaring Sissy and crew turned rotten when a demon entered the school. Stephan fights the good fight, but seems different afterwards. How far will they follow him? Will he ever be the same? Continuation from The New Kid.


Chapter 5-T3

"…Stephan stays." Ulrich finished. Stephan smiled wide. He knew Aelita and Jeremy would never trust him, but the in-between Ulrich was actually for him. He wouldn't have guessed it. Now to rally them against X.A.N.A. a.s.a.p. so they finish the good fight.

"I have an idea." Stephan started. "You've been working on the Skid, yes?"

"Yeah…" Jeremy said uneasily. He feared an idea of Stephan shooting them down while in the Net.

"I intercepted a blueprint for a ship meant for William. It was inspired off from your ship. The Scyphozoa stole that data while draining the shields."

Odd looked at him. "So why is it so important to travel into the web?"

Jeremy couldn't hold it back anymore. "Don't you see, he trying to get us in a position to kill us off!"

The others looked at him like he was insane. Stephan shook his head in annoyance. "Considering I just risked my life for yours, why would I turn around and kill you off? Anyway, the key to beating X.A.N.A. is in the Net. There are replicas of Lyoko throughout the net. There is even one that houses William."

"Amazing!" Aelita said. "And how do we get him out from it?"

"I don't know yet," Stephan glanced back at the William clone. "But I suggest tuning up the clone while you wait."

Jeremy thought for a few seconds, then said, "I have been working on a program that would make William's clone a bit more intelligent and free-willed."

"Good." Stephan said, pointing his fingers at him. "In the meantime, we should test the Skidbladnir and my ship."

Odd looked over at him, with a smile and an eyebrow raised. "So what do you plan on naming her?"

"The ship? I don't really have any ideas in mind." He read Odd's intentions based off his facial expression. "I'll let you take a crack at it _after _you see it for the first time."

Ulrich chimed in. "You did say it was based off the Skid."

Stephan stood up with empty tray in hand. "Yeah, but after a few touchups I made to it, the ship looks quite a bit more original. Now I have to go tell Delmas what happened, then I'll come back to you. If anything, I'll just take a dorm and sleep there."

Yumi smiled with her cell phone in hand. "You shouldn't have to be worried about paying your tuition." Odd nodded in agreement as he began to dig for his phone in his pocket as well.

Stephan walked outside and towards the administration hallway. He walked inside to see Delmas toying around with his computer. He sat down in the chair and waited a solid five minutes before clearing his throat. Delmas nearly tumbled off his chair in surprise. "You shouldn't surprise me like that." He spoke sternly.

"No disrespect intending sir, but I've done nothing except sit here and wait to be noticed." Stephan clasped his hands together and sat them down in his lap.

Delmas straightened his tie and said with an authoritative voice, "At any rate, your incident will more than likely cause to return home, will it not?"

Stephan tried to hold back 'tears' as he said, "I have nothing to go back home to. I was actually hoping to stay here and attend as a dorm student." He breathed heavily, trying to show that the topic brought up hard emotions.

Looking at his record, Delmas said, "Yes it appears there is no one for you to live with that is of stable mind." Stephan's 'record' stated that he had no other aunts or uncles, and that his remaining grandparents were not of proper mental condition. "Who will pay for your tuition though? That is the question."

Stephan gulped hard. "As you now, my friends are closely tied to me, and are convincing their parents to help pay my way."

Delmas put his elbows on the table. He then squinted his eyes, as if to see through an invisible glare blocking his eyes. He stared at Stephan so long, he felt like holes were being drilled. Finally, he leaned back. "Very well. We at Kadic give you our best wishes." _Knock, knock!_

They both turned around to see Odd and Yumi walk through the door. "Excuse us sir, but we have his living situation figured out." Odd said.

"And what is that?" Delmas said.

Yumi slipped her phone into her pocket. "Well, Odd's parents are paying over half of the tuition. Our parents will pay the rest and his living costs."

Delmas grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down some notes. "I'll call them to assure this. In the meantime, you are dismissed." He leaned back in his chair and waved his hand to dismiss the students.

Stephan led the group out of the room. Yumi waved and began to walk towards the front gate. Ulrich walked up between Odd and Stephan, then waved at Yumi. "I'll see you guys later!" She called out. Ulrich sighed and visibly blushed. Stephan nudged him in the forearm. Ulrich turned towards Stephan with a leer. Odd tapped his shoulder. Ulrich looked at him and received a sly smile.

Stephan then turned and ran for the dorms, with the others swiftly following. Racing past Jim, Aelita, Jeremy and others, he came to dead stop in front of the entrance to the dorms, sticking his arms out to block it. Both Ulrich and Odd crashed headlong into his outstretched arms. After tumbling onto the floor, Odd asked, "What's wrong?"

He didn't respond. He didn't move his body. He didn't even blink his frozen eyes. He simply said, "I'm not going in there. Neither are any of you." Others were starting to gather around him. Nicholas and Herb tried to budge him into the dormitory, but he still didn't move.

Jim grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him back to his senses. Stephan then turned around, but stood still in front of the dorms. "Come on, we need to get in and sleep." Jim said. Some of the kids in the crowd murmured in agreement.

"Something's in there." Stephan said in a serious tone.

Tamiya yelled from within the crowd, "Yeah, the kids that got in ahead of you." Others started shouting in agreement. The entire group surged forward, forcing him against the door jam, but still not through it.

"There's something malevolent in there."

Odd quickly said, "But Sissy's still out here!" hahahahaha!" A few others snickered as Sissy pushed her way forward through the group.

"Shut up, Odd." She said as she approached Stephan.

Ulrich whispered in his ear. "Do you think it's X.A.N.A.?"

Stephan whispered back, "No, this force is much stronger. This is paranormal. Probably demonic in nature."

"What?" Odd whispered in. "That's outrageous."

"If you didn't already know X.A.N.A. existed and I tried to explain it to you, you'd say the same thing."

"Whatever." They said simultaneously.

Sissy grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. "Listen loser and listen now. I'm getting in there so I can go to sleep and wake up ready for my tryout tomorrow." She shoved him out of way.

"No! Stop!" Stephan yelled with an outstretched hand. His hand didn't touch her though, as he kept his body from entering the dormitory.

Everyone else piled in, including Jim, Jeremy, and Aelita. Odd and Ulrich lifted him off the ground. Odd looked at him curiously. "What kind of proof do you have?"

Stephan dusted himself off. "X.A.N.A. gave me the capability to pick up EMF readings."

Ulrich pointed up at the cellphone tower. "You could just be picking that up."

"No. Towers like that give off weak Electromagnetic Fields. X.A.N.A. gives off ones that are powerful enough to actually manipulate electrical equipment. Paranormal specters, that is, actual ghosts, give off incredible EMF readings that cause more than paranoia and nausea."

"So what you're saying is…" Ulrich started.

Stephan continued on without hesitation. "They can also manipulate more than electric equipment. They can manipulate everything. Plus, I have this feeling. The presence here is inherently evil. I want nothing to do with it and I suggest that you stay out here with me."

Odd whipped out his phone. "How about I go in, and if anything happens, I'll phone you. If it don't, you'll start sleeping inside for now on."

Stephan narrowed his eyes. "Fine, but when the door to your room won't open and an upside down cross starts sprawling down your wall in blood, don't think my powers will save your ass. Computers are great, but not immortal."

Odd went in as Ulrich and Stephan stepped around the corner of the building. "So why do you think it's haunted?" Ulrich asked.

"I never really like being in there in the first place. Remember when Sissy brought you down into the basement?"

"Yeah."

"Well that little chant you did around that pentagram she drew actually summoned a demon. Twice because you went back in time to prank them the second time."

"How could that work though? Everything resets when time goes backwards."

"Immortal souls/beings are automatically immune as they live forever. The first time summoned the man she was trying to reach. The second summoned a demonic spirit from beyond the gates of fire."

"Whoa. That's deep. And pretty terrifying if you think about it."

"Exactly. I fear that he might decide to begin acting maliciously at any moment. He might start mischievously, he might start by going out to kill people immediately. You can't really tell unless you know what's in there."

Ulrich then looked at Stephan with a confused face. "Where are we going to sleep tonight?"

"I got us covered." Stephan said this while pulling out a small green pellet from his pocket. "Literally." He threw it onto the pavement. Then, it a burst of sound, the pellet unfolded into a 8 man tent. "This should be more than enough."

"Awesome!" Ulrich said. It was a deep military green with netted windows. "Is this something else you programmed?"

"No, bought it at a camping emporium. 40 freaking bucks." Stephan said this as he unzipped the opening. Crawling in, there was easily more than enough room in the tent. Ulrich followed and went onto the right side. Stephan sat down on the left. The bottom was pumped up with air to create a sort of air mattress.

"This thing is so cool." Ulrich said in a barely calm voice.

**Meanwhile… **Odd walked up the steps to the boys room on the second floor. He pushed on the doors meant to simply push open. They seemed unusually heavy. It was like something didn't want him to enter. After getting through the doors, he noticed how quiet it was. "Maybe everyone's already in bed." With a chill of fear crawling down his spine, he walked briskly down the hall to his room. With every footstep, it sounded like two more were taken behind him. The faster he moved, the faster the footfalls echoed behind him. Sweat ran down his body like a waterfall. As he opened the door, a thought hit his mind. _I'm safe. _He slowly closed the door behind himself. "See? Nothing to worry about." He told himself.

Then he realized something. The poor acoustics in the hallway probably created echoes behind him with every step. "I'm a total ghost buster." He turned on the light to see Kiwi standing in the middle of the room. He didn't know this, but animals tend to have a better understanding of paranormal events. He was growling at the door. "What's wrong my little diggity dog?"

Then, he heard a knocking on the door. "Open up." A voice said from the other side. It sounded a lot like Jim's.

"Uh… just a second." He grabbed Kiwi, who was still growling very loudly. He plopped him in his drawer and closed it with a kick. He grabbed the knob and opened it up, but nobody was there. He started back towards his bed, but heard knocking again. Without hesitation, he grabbed the knob and yanked it open. "Ah ha!" He called out triumphantly.

"What the?" He said, his voice full of surprise and confusion. Sitting before him was Kiwi. "How did you get out there?" He let him back in and walked over to the drawer. With Kiwi out of sight, he opened the drawer to see another one setting on its bed. He looked swiftly to the left and right, but had no sight of him. Not even on Ulrich's sheets. Then he heard a growling behind him. "How is that possible?" He said in surprise.

He saw two Kiwis staring at each other, both growling at the other. They appeared to be the exact same. "Which one's Kiwi?" He said with his hands pressed against the sides of his head. Then he noticed something. The one on the left didn't have the gold medallion on his collar. Without hesitation, he kicked the other Kiwi against the wall. It bounced with a yelp and opened its mouth. Large, shark like teeth maliciously locked onto his right arm. "Ah!" He screamed as he slammed the uncontrolled beast against the wall several times. He saw blood dripping all over Ulrich's bed. "Get off you stinking mongrel!" This mystery dog finally let go and was flung towards the door. In midair, it turned into something else.

Its body elongated and contorted into this hideous black beast as it flew through door. Odd noticed that its long slender fingers stretched out as long as his forearm. Two thin, stick arms led up about 2 feet to these weak looking shoulders. The entire thing stood as tall as the doorway and was as dark as tar. Three rows of razor sharp teeth were bared in a twisted, malformed smile. This beast's head was completely spherical and had no eyes. The head was about the size of a beach ball. Saliva drizzled out its mouth like spilt maple syrup. Opening its mouth, a dark red tongue brushed across its teeth harshly. The teeth were already bloody from chomping on Odd's arm. It charged forward without hesitation.

Odd cowered into a ball and yelped like a little girl. He pulled out his phone and started fumbling for Ulrich's number. He finally finished the number and decided to look up. All he saw was razor sharp, bloody teeth headed for his face. Then everything went black.

**The next morning…** Stephan got out of his tent. Stretching his arms out, he yawned. After let his arms drop, he looked back into the tent. "I guess Odd wins. Let's go in and tell him."

Ulrich poked his head out of the tent. "Sounds good. By the way, I love that tent." Standing up, he looked back at the tent. "What do you do with that?" He pointed at the tent. Stephan walked over to it and poked the top of the tent, which still had the plastic on it. The air let out and a vacuum pulled the tent back into a pellet. "Awesome." He said plainly.

"Thank you." Stephan said as he popped it into his pocket and walked towards the entrance. They could smell breakfast in the cafeteria. "Let's go eat first. I'm sure Odd's in there right now anyway."

Ulrich smiled. "Good idea." They headed off for breakfast, which was sausage gravy on biscuits with a jelly filled croissant. When Stephan and Ulrich entered, they were the only ones inside. Ulrich walked up to the lunch lady. "Hey, have you seen anybody today?"

"Nope. You two are the first I've seen all morning. Not even Odd or Jim."

"Weird." Ulrich said as he grabbed his tray. Ulrich and Stephan sat at a table near the front entrance. They watched the gate while they ate for Yumi. By the time they were about halfway done, Yumi walked through the empty courtyard. She looked back and forth, not seeing a soul. Confused, she entered the cafeteria and grabbed a tray. Stephan got up and went to dump his tray. Yumi sat down and asked, "Where is everyone?"

Ulrich pushed his tray away and said, "We haven't seen anybody. They must all be in the dorms."

"Shouldn't you know if they're in there?" Yumi asked.

Stephan reappeared and sat down across from Ulrich and Yumi. "I picked up a paranormal reading from the dorms. Odd slept in there while Ulrich and I slept out in a tent. We're the only people to come in here today."

"That's creepy. We should probably check up on them." Yumi said with a slight hint of urgency.

Ulrich raised an eyebrow. "You don't believe in this paranormal crap too, do ya?"

Yumi narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I believe in beings beyond our understanding. There are certain things I take seriously. Toying with the dead and possibly immortal are a few of those things."

The group then got up and started heading out. Ulrich was in the back and told the lunch lady, "We'll check up on the others and head off for class." She nodded back at them and went off into the kitchen. Yumi led the other two while Stephan leaned in on Ulrich.

"That's why you're just good friends." Stephan whispered.

Ulrich started to steam, but Stephan kept going. "You got to try to be more sensitive to her personality."

They approached the dorm doors, which were normally hanging wide open. Instead, each one was shut tight. Stephan grabbed the knob and tried to wiggle it free. Not a budge. "Come on now." Stephan mumbled to himself. Standing back up straight, he tried to kick it. "Ow! That hurts!" He called out. He motioned them to come forward. "I have an idea. On three, we charge the door." Stephan began to give off black smoke as he activated his Specter powers. Everyone got into a braced position.

His voice sounded deep and menacing now. "One, two, three!" He yelled. Using their combined might, the door splintered open. The door handles physically went into the wall across the hall. "Maybe too much." Ulrich said as Stephan returned to normal.

"Ya don't say?" Yumi said sarcastically.

"At least we're in." Stephan said. The others nodded in agreement. "Let's try some doors on the guys floor first." They headed through the oddly quiet halls. Not a sound from anyone. They approached Jeremy's room and knocked. Not a sound came out of his room.

As Stephan fidgeted with the door, Ulrich thought he heard metal scraping. He walked down the hallway towards the sound, which came from his room. "Finally!" he heard Stephan say from Jeremy's room. Ulrich saw his door wide open, and took a few steps in the room. He didn't see anything out of ordinary. Then the door slammed shut behind him.

"Oh God!" He heard Stephan yell. Good, they'd come for him any second. He grabbed the door handle, but it wouldn't budge in any direction. _Clink clink. _He heard the sound of metal colliding. It came from the closet. He stepped back and grabbed the closet handle.

Pulling it open, he saw Odd hanging in the closet from his wrists. A piece of wire was tied around the metal and then hung few inches before tying around his wrists. He couldn't even touch the ground. Duck-tape covered his mouth. He had his legs stretched out against the sides of the closet so that his wrists wouldn't be cut from dangling in the air. Ulrich quickly grabbed the weak rail and pulled it out with all his strength. Odd dropped to the ground, barely breathing. Ulrich ripped the tape off his face.

"OW!" He screamed before gasping for air. After his breath calmed down, he breathed out, "Thanks." Odd turned around. "Can you take care of the wire?"

Ulrich saw the bloodied arm and the back of his red shirt was even deeper than normal with blood. "What happened?" He asked as he began to untie the wire.

"You guys were right. I should've just stayed outside. That thing turned into my dog and bit me. Then it transformed into some beast. It grabbed tape, warped an all metal clothes hanger, and stuck me up in there. Who knows what he's done with the others."

"There." Ulrich said as he freed Odd's hands. "We can't get out though." Odd turned around and grabbed the wire.

"I got an idea." He said as he started to pick the lock.

"Odd that'll never…" _Click!_

"Got it!" He yelled as the lock came undone. The door opened with ease to show the beast again. It's jaw hung limply and it growled lowly. "Shit!" He yelled as he ran straight at it. Other than a sudden cold chill, he phased directly through it. Ulrich tried to follow, but the door slammed again.

"No! No!" He screamed as he banged his fists on the door. Then he heard something break behind him. Turning around, the chair was thrown across the room. The chair struck his chest, making him cough up blood. The chair legs had gone through the wall and pinned him. It felt like something on the other side was holding him in place. "Help!" He screamed out. And he kept screaming, but nothing came for him.

**Meanwhile… **Stephan ran into Jeremy's room, quickly followed by Yumi. The cords from Jeremy's computer were wrapped around his body, tightening with every second. His face had begun to turn red. He tried to lift an arm in desperation, but the cords quickly restrained him. "Oh my God!" Yumi screamed in terror. "You have to cut him out."

Stephan ran towards the desktop tower, but some wire snapped him on the wrist. "Ow that hurts!" He yelled as he stepped back. Yumi charged in amongst the cords.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" She called out as she was snapped several times by the computer cables. Finally reaching the tower, she began pulling out cords. Jeremy's face turned a light shade of blue. He gasped for air without any gain. With the cords unplugged, the spirit decided to leave Jeremy behind with a cord in a knot around his neck. He was still unable to move under the weight of all the cords.

Stephan grabbed Jeremy's arm and began unravelling the cords. Soon one arm was free, then the other. With his face turning purple and vision starting to fade out, he reached his arms behind his back. Stephan got behind while Yumi worked on his neck. Jeremy's eyes continued to squint further. His head was shaking from weakness. Stephan fidgeted with the knot. It was so tight. His fingers worked around the coiled wire like a Rubik's cube master. Heavy sweat ran down his neck as Jeremy wheezed for breath, then fell limp. His head lolled to one side and his eyes closed. His cheeks were bloated slightly as well. "Finally!" He yelled as the knot came undone.

He immediately threw Jeremy onto the ground and began pumping his chest. "Breathe damn it!" He screamed as Yumi checked his breath.

"He's not breathing." She said in a solemn voice.

Stephan gave Jeremy two breaths, then screamed, "The hell he's not!" Pumping again, he could see the proper color return to Jeremy's face. When he stopped, he could see Jeremy's chest moving up and down. "He might not believe in me, but I'm not done with him yet." He muttered out to himself.

Jeremy's eyes then opened. "You saved me?" He said weakly. Yumi ran over and hugged him tightly. "Please let me breathe." He wheezed out.

"Sorry." Yumi said as she moved her part out of her face. "What now?"

Stephan thought for a moment. "We should split up and rescue as many people as possible."

Jeremy stood up and limped towards the door. "I'll look for Aelita."

Yumi then spoke up. "I'll check for Odd."

Stephan walked into the hallway. "I better check up on Emily."


End file.
